Baylor College of Medicine – Houston, TX
Contact: Pam Ferry, Assistant Professor
Phone: (800) 798-8244
Email: pgferry@bcm.tmc.edu

Baylor College of Medicine, located in Houston, Texas, is the only private medical school in Texas and the Greater Southwest and home to 682 medical students, 482 graduate students, and 123 allied health students. Baylor was ranked 13th overall among the nation's top academic health sciences centers in the 2004 issue of U.S. News & World Report. With 25 departments and more than 90 research and patient-care centers, Baylor offers a unique and exciting learning environment.

Of particular interest to Ventures Undergraduate Scholars, Baylor hosts three undergraduate summer programs:

• The Honors Premedical Academy
  www.ccit.bcm.tmc.edu
• The SMART summer research program
  www.bcm.edu/smart/
• The DeBakey Summer Surgery Program
  http://debakeydepartmentofsurgery.org/

Information Link
Would you like to learn about the programs and opportunities at our member graduate/professional schools? Click here to access information. If you correspond directly with the contact person, please remember to mention that you are a Ventures Scholar.

Questionnaire
If you would like to share your academic and career goals with the member graduate and professional schools, please go to http://www.venturescholar.org/undergrad/gradinquiry.asp and you will receive a response from the selected institutions.

The Biophysical Society was founded in 1957 to encourage development and dissemination of knowledge in biophysics. It does so through its many programs, including its meetings, publications, and committee outreach activities. The Society's members, now over 7,000, work in academia, industry, and in government agencies throughout the world. The Society publishes the monthly Biophysical Journal, which is accessible online to all members as a benefit of membership, as well as additional publications.
Biophysics is that branch of knowledge that applies the principles of physics and chemistry and the methods of mathematical analysis and computer modeling to understand how the mechanisms of biological systems work.

Biophysics is a molecular science. Biophysics explains biological functions in terms of molecular mechanisms: precise physical descriptions of how individual molecules work together like tiny machines to produce specific biological functions.

Contact
Yvonne Cissel, Meeting & Courses Manager
Biophysical Society
Phone: (301) 634-7266
Email: ycissel@biophysics.org
Web: www.biophysics.org

Information Link
Would you like to learn about the member professional associations? Click here to access information. If you correspond directly with the contact person, please remember to mention that you are a Ventures Scholar.

Questionnaire
If you would like to ask questions to the professional associations and organizations, go to http://www.venturescholar.org/scholars/assocquest.asp and complete this form.

Not sure if a double major is for you? Learn about double majors.

Go to http://www.venturescholar.org/resource/choosemajor-ug.html#double

Wondering how to choose a major?

Go to http://www.venturescholar.org/resource/choosemajor-ug.html#choose

Thinking about minoring in a specific area?

Go to http://www.venturescholar.org/resource/choosemajor-ug.html#minor

Internships and Coops provide students with a great opportunity to gain real-world experience while still in school. In addition to giving students direct experience in the field they are considering, interaction with others in the field can help provide perspective on career path options.

Please go to http://www.careercornerstone.org/coopsint.htm

The Ventures Scholars Program provides an extensive list of links to internship opportunities. We will periodically update this list.

Please go to http://www.venturescholar.org/resource/internship_listing.html

Average starting salary offers to new college grads continue to increase, according to the Fall 2005 issue of Salary Survey, published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). For the most part, those graduating with degrees in the computer sciences saw smaller increases than those in the business disciplines -- but their actual salary offers were higher than those to most business grads. Salary offers among computer science graduates, for example, rose just 3.3 percent over last year, but that increase spiked their average salary offer to $50,664. Information sciences and systems grads also fared well this year, posting a 3.6 increase that raised their average offer to $43,902. Among engineering graduates, most reported increases to their average starting salary offers. Chemical engineering grads saw one of the smaller increases, only 2.1 percent, inching their average offer to $53,639, still the second highest of all the engineering majors. Civil engineering graduates posted a stronger increase of 4.1 percent, raising their average offer to $43,774. Computer engineering graduates saw a 1.8 percent increase to their average salary offer, raising it to $52,242, and electrical engineering grads received a 1.3 percent increase, bumping their average offer to $51,773. The average salary offer to mechanical engineering graduates rose by 3.3 percent, pushing the average offer to $50,175.

The Sloan Career Cornerstone Center offers vast resources on the following fields. Within each area you'll find a profile of the field, and links to video and print profiles of professionals working in each area. There are downloadable lists of employers and degree granting universities, and links to professional associations.

Aerospace Engineering, Bioengineering, Biology, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Engineering Technology, Geosciences, Industrial Engineering, Information Technology, Materials Science and Engineering, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, and Physics.

Read more:
http://www.careercornerstone.org/disciplines.htm

Take the time to attend a conference! You will learn about the latest activities in your career area and you’ll be able to network. Here is a link that provides you with conference opportunities in April, May, and June.

Read more:
http://www.justgarciahill.org/jghdocs/webevent.asp

Take time periodically to find out what is going on in the world of science. We’ve connected you with a variety of online magazines.

Go to http://www.venturescholar.org/resource/studyskills-ug.html#science

College life can be very stressful. Sometimes parents, faculty and others tend to idealize their college experience and remember it as that idyllic time when they had few worries or responsibilities. To students currently attending college, however, the process is often stressful and frustrating.

Read more:
http://www.counsel.ufl.edu/selfHelp/studentStress.asp

As the end of the semester arrives, so does stress, a feeling of being overwhelmed by all that you need, should and want to do. Stress comes from impending exams, assignments that are due, as well as from family, friends, work and from yourself. The harder you work, the further behind you seem to get. And then the car breaks down!

Read more:
http://www.counseling.umd.edu/Selfhelp/sh_whelm.htm

Adjustment to Life's Changes, Anxiety Disorders and Depression, Eating Disorders and Depression, Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Depression, and Suicide and Depression.

Read more:
http://www.nmha.org/camh/college/fact_sheets.cfm